Miegakure

{{Short description|Upcoming four-dimensional space indie video game platformer}}

{{About|the unreleased computer game|Japanese gardens|Japanese garden}}

{{Infobox video game

| title = Miegakure

| image =

| caption =

| developer = Marc ten Bosch

| publisher =

| series =

| released =

| genre = Puzzle-platform

| modes = Single-player

| platforms = Linux
Mac OS X
Windows (Steam{{cite web |title=Miegakure is coming to Steam |work=Marc ten Bosch |date=21 April 2015 |url=http://marctenbosch.com/news/2015/04/miegakure-is-coming-to-steam/ |access-date=16 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108095009/https://marctenbosch.com/news/2015/04/miegakure-is-coming-to-steam/ |archive-date=8 November 2020}})

}}

{{nihongo|Miegakure|見え隠れ|Miegakure|"in and out of sight"|lead=yes}} is an in-development puzzle-platform video game by Marc ten Bosch set in a world with four spatial dimensions. Because rendering true four-dimensional (4D) space to a screen is impossible, the game renders two-dimensional images (the screen) of three-dimensional (3D) slices of its world. Players can change the dimensions used to create the slice and move within the slice, thereby enabling them to move throughout the 4D world. The game has many puzzles that are impossible to solve in a 3D world, but are solvable in the game's 4D world.

In contrast to traditional 2D or 3D game development, virtually all of the technology behind Miegakure had to be created from scratch because the equations describing physics in a world with four spatial dimensions differ from those in spacetime (which has only three spatial dimensions). The technology underlying the game was used to create the 2017 simulation game 4D Toys, and some of the research underlying the game was published at SIGGRAPH in 2020. The game has been in development since 2009 and, as of December 2024, does not have a release date.

Gameplay

Ten Bosch wrote in 2014 that the gameplay of Miegakure "focuses on exploring a 4D world and the consequences of being able to move in 4D."{{cite web |url=https://blog.playstation.com/2014/12/04/miegakure-exploring-a-4d-world-on-ps4/ |title=Miegakure: Exploring a 4D World on PS4 |work=Marc ten Bosch |publisher=Sony Interactive Entertainment |date=2014-12-04 |accessdate=2014-12-04 |archive-date=2014-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209165622/http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/12/04/miegakure-exploring-a-4d-world-on-ps4/ |url-status=live }} In 2014, the game also had characters and a story.{{cite web |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/miegakure-preview/ |title=Miegakure preview — playing a four-dimensional puzzle game |last=Tyler |first=Wilde |date=2014-08-29 |website=PC Gamer |publisher=Future plc}}

Development

In 2009, Bosch worked on prototype for the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at GDC 2009 which would be the basis for Miegakure. In 2010 the game's engine was written in C++, and the levels were scripted in Lua.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27041/Road_To_The_IGF_Miegakures_Marc_Ten_Bosch.php |title=News - Road To The IGF: Miegakure's Marc Ten Bosch |publisher=Gamasutra |date=2010-02-11 |accessdate=2010-04-03 |archive-date=2020-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730233549/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27041/Road_To_The_IGF_Miegakures_Marc_Ten_Bosch.php |url-status=dead }} The game was popularized in March 2010 by an xkcd webcomic, which compared the game to Edwin Abbott Abbott's book Flatland.{{cite web |url=https://www.themarysue.com/miegakure-4d-game-info-no-demo-download/ |title=xkcd Makes 4D Miegakure the Most-Sought Indie Game: What You Need to Know |publisher=The Mary Sue |date=2010-03-31 |accessdate=2022-10-16 |archive-date=2013-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730090320/http://www.geekosystem.com/miegakure-4d-game-info-no-demo-download/ |url-status=live }} On December 4, 2014, ahead of the PlayStation Experience event, the game was announced to be released on PlayStation 4 via the PlayStation Blog. The game was playable for attendees of the PlayStation Experience event in Las Vegas at the following weekend.

In 2015, Bosch said the game had around 140 levels, and each contains a unique idea.{{cite web |url=https://marctenbosch.com/news/2015/05/counting-levels-of-each-type/ |title=Almost done with puzzles! Counting Levels of each type/main mechanic |author=Marc ten Bosch |date=May 20, 2015 |publisher=mtbdesignworks }} Indie Fund backed the game in April 2016.{{cite web |url=https://indie-fund.com/2016/04/indie-fund-backs-miegakure/ |title=Indie Fund backs Miegakure |author = Jonathan Blow |date=Apr 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410113559/https://indie-fund.com/2016/04/indie-fund-backs-miegakure/ |archive-date=April 10, 2016 |url-status=dead }} In 2017, Bosch released the simulation game 4D Toys for iOS and Steam VR. The game engine underlying 4D Toys was based on the technology developed for Miegakure, and borne out of tests to add a robust physics system to the game.{{cite web|title=Crazy VR game lets you explore a world made from 4D mathematical models|author=Sam Machkovech|date=2017-06-02|access-date=2020-05-09|publisher=Ars Technica|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/learn-the-ways-of-the-fourth-dimension-with-a-bonkers-vr-playset/|archive-date=2020-11-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125121039/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/learn-the-ways-of-the-fourth-dimension-with-a-bonkers-vr-playset/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=4D Toys is a toybox with four-dimensional toys|author=Alice O'Connor|date=2017-06-15|access-date=2020-05-09|website=Rock Paper Shotgun|url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/06/05/4d-toys-released/|archive-date=2020-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928193936/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/06/05/4d-toys-released/|url-status=live}} Bosch said that working on 4D Toys influenced the design of Miegakure, noting "I also came up with many ideas for Miegakure levels and scenes while playing with 4D Toys."

Creating the game's physics engine involved generalizing Newton's laws of motion to an arbitrary number of dimensions, which required Bosch's team to come up with new mathematics. Part of the research was used to create the technical paper "N-Dimensional Rigid Body Dynamics", which Bosch presented at SIGGRAPH 2020 and published later that year.{{cite web |url=https://marctenbosch.com/news/2020/05/siggraph-2020-technical-paper-n-dimensional-rigid-body-dynamics/ |title=SIGGRAPH 2020 talk for my technical paper: N-Dimensional Rigid Body Dynamics |last=Ten Bosch |first=Marc |date=2021-01-05 }}{{cite journal |last1=Ten Bosch |first1=Marc |date=August 2020 |title=N-dimensional rigid body dynamics |journal=ACM Transactions on Graphics |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=55:1–55:6 |doi=10.1145/3386569.3392483|s2cid=221104833 }}

The name of the game comes from a Japanese garden term, which Bosch chose because "the game's philosophy is connected to ideas Japanese gardens have developed."{{ cite web |url=https://www.diygamer.com/2011/10/trip-miegakures-4th-dimension-marc-ten-bosch-interview/ |title=A Trip to Miegakure's 4th Dimension with Marc Ten Bosch |last=Johnson |first=Erik |date=Oct 31, 2011 |publisher=DIYGamer |archive-date=November 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103184855/https://www.diygamer.com/2011/10/trip-miegakures-4th-dimension-marc-ten-bosch-interview/ |url-status=dead }} Bosch said that the simplicity of the color-switch mechanic in Ikaruga influenced the design of the dimension-orientation switching button in the game.{{ cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/impossible-4d-puzzle-game-defies-physics-and-lets-you-walk-through-walls/ |title=This Man Is Using Math To Create An Impossible 4D Video Game |last=Mufson |first=Beckett |date= May 9, 2014 |publisher=Vice News }} Bosch went to Kyoto to study ancient temples for inspiration.{{cite web |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/11/4d-game/ |title=One Man's Quest to Build a Mind-Warping 4-D Videogame |last=Suellentrop |first=Chris |date=Dec 2014 |publisher=Wired |accessdate=Dec 3, 2022 }} Some of the concept art of the game was created by Kellan Jett.{{cite web |url=https://marctenbosch.com/news/2017/06/4d-toys-a-box-of-four-dimensional-toys/ |title=4D Toys: a box of four-dimensional toys |date=Jun 2, 2017 |author=Marc ten Bosch |publisher=mtbdesignworks }}

The tremendous technical challenges of creating a 4D game engine mean that as of February 2023, the game is still in development with no announced release date. Bosch writes updates concerning the game in a dedicated development blog and on Patreon.{{cite web|title=What Happened to 'Miegakure,' the Game That Promised the 4th Dimension?|author=Patrick Klepek|date=2018-07-24|access-date=2020-05-09|publisher=Vice|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-miegakure-the-game-that-promised-the-4th-dimension/|archive-date=2020-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805054726/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kmknd/what-happened-to-miegakure-the-game-that-promised-the-4th-dimension|url-status=live}} In a Wired profile in 2014, Bosch described his daily schedule as "wake up, work on the game, go get lunch somewhere, work on the game, go to sleep."

Awards

Miegakure won the Amazing award at IndieCade (the International Festival of Independent Games) in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://indiegamereviewer.com/indiecade-2010-the-sundance-of-indie-games-comes-back-with-style/ |title=IndieCade 2010... |date=October 2010 |accessdate=2013-03-08 |work=indiegamereviewer.com |archive-date=2020-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109034621/https://indiegamereviewer.com/indiecade-2010-the-sundance-of-indie-games-comes-back-with-style/ |url-status=live }}